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Kajeet Cell Phone for Kids

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Would a Kajeet cell phone help your child to stay in touch with you, learn how to manage their money while having more fun? It could. And what about you? Would you like to be able to check where your children are without having to call them up all the time? Would you like an easy way to manage your child’s cell phone usage? With Kajeet, you can.

too young for a Kajeet cell phone
Probably too Young for a Cell Phone
If you’ve got an 8-12 year-old child in your family then you’ve probably thought about whether to provide them with a cell phone, and what cell phone to choose.

If you decide to go ahead then you’ve got a neat option available. The cell phone service is designed to be easy to use and manage for parents as well as their children. It’s advertised not only as a cell phone, but also as a way of teaching your children to manage money.

We'll go over these cell phones for kids but let's pause just a second and check whether they provide . . .

Good Coverage with Sprint Network

The service uses Sprint's network, so coverage is pretty good. In particular, the map shows good coverage in population centers and along highways (which are also population centers.) You need to check first, of course.

With that out of the way, let's move on to how you manage how your kids use the phone. The scenario is that you give them an allowance in what's called a "Kajeet wallet” of, let’s say, $20, and they can use that either for making calls or downloading ringtones or games. Your children then have to learn to balance those different desires within their allowance. As a parent you decide to fund their wallet. You can exempt certain calls (such as calls to you) from their wallet. These calls then get charged to you.

Safety and Parental Controls

Basic Safety

Here’s some basic safety information about Kajeet. They, of course, comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). In addition, your child
  • Can always call 911 even if the Kajeet account has no money or if the number has been deactivated.
  • Will NOT be able to call 900 and 976 telephone numbers, since they are blocked,
  • Will only be able to download ringtones that have been "content approved".

The above safety features all work automatically. In addition there are parental controls to customize the phone for your child.

Parental Controls

Kajeet's parental controls include

  • Time Management - You can set the days and times of the day when the phone can be used, but don't worry, they can always call you.
  • Contact Management - You can set who can be called and who can call them.
  • Feature Management - You can choose which features are activated on the phone. For example, you can disable downloading ringtones or games and gradually lift these restrictions later.

  • Kajeet Wallets - You can create "wallets", one for your child and one for you. You transfer money from your wallet to your child’s wallet. Then you can decide what gets charged to his wallet and what gets charged to yours.

All these features are free. There is one additional safety feature

GPS Locator

All Kajeet phones are GPS-capable. This allows you to locate your child's phone wherever it, and presumably, your child is. You can either check their location via a web site or set up the phone to send you alerts at particular times so you know whether she's where she's supposed to be. For example, if she's supposed to be at soccer practice by 4pm, you can have the phone send you an alert every weekday at 4pm to check if she's there.

The GPS Locator service usually costs $7.99 per month or 99 cents per locate. It's also included free on the $24.99 and up plans.

Now that you know it's safe, you can check out the . . .

Rates on No-Contract Plans

Kajeet's prepaid no-contract plans range from as little as $4.99 a month for basic service to affordable unlimited messaging plans and a full unlimited plan.

Basic Plan - $4.99 per month

This plan keeps the phone active for the month without daily access charges and adds 10 voice minutes to your balance. Additional minutes as well as text messages cost 10 cents each. You can use this as a base and add money to your child's or your Kajeet wallet for extra calling time if you need it.

Talk and Text Plans

If your child needs more voice minutes rather than text messages, then you can choose the $19.99 Talk and Text plan and get 500 voice minutes and 100 texts per month. For $29.99 per month you get 1000 minutes and 100 texts.

Messaging Plans

Unlimited Texting Plan - $14.99 per month

This plan offers 60 voice minutes, but it's special because it includes unlimited texting. This, of course, is going to be very popular. However, if you child is texting too much, remember that you can set limits via the parental controls.

Unlimited Messaging Plan - $19.99 per month

This plan offers 150 voice minutes along with unlimited text and picture messaging.

Unlimited Messaging and GPS - $24.99 per month

For $24.99 you get 300 voice minutes, unlimited text and picture messaging and unlimited use of the GPS locator service. This plan should be good enough for most kids.

Unlimited Plan - $50 per month

For $50 a month you also get unlimited voice minutes in addition to the unlimited messaging and GPS.

Kajeet Plan Add-Ons

Some things like web data is not included with the Kajeet plans above.

Mobile Web Add-Ons

The data rates are okay, but not great. The cost ranges from $4.99 a month for 50 MB to $24.99 a month for 1 GB. You'll only really need the higher amounts if you get one of the new Kajeet Android phones.

Text Add-ons

If you choose the basic or talk and text plans, you can add buckets of text messages so that you don't pay the higher per text charge. For example, 4.99 gets you 200 texts and 9.99 per month gets you 1000 texts. However, if you need more than 200 texts, it's cheaper to get the unlimited texting plan.

No Activation Fees

One great thing about Kajeet is that there are no activation fees, which is unusual in a full-featured provider. And since they are prepaid or no-contract plans, there are no termination fees either.

Suspending Your Account

You can also suspend your account for a limited amount of time such as when you go on vacation. This is at their discretion, so you can probably only do this a couple of times a year.

Now we can get to the phones. There will probably be strong opinions about which handset to get in your family! And it's likely that your child may know more about these phones than what I can cover, so this is just a quick overview.

Phones

You have the choice of a good-looking assortment of phones. Many of them have cameras and music players. You have to make sure they will be used wisely.

Kajeet Android Phones Now Available

Kajeet has come out with a whole line of cool Android phones for kids. These phones come with a Smart Blocker technology that apparently restricts usage to approved sites and apps.

You can choose from the Samsung Replenish ("Green" phone) and the Samsung Conquer, the LG Optimus S, the Kyocera Milano and the HTC EVO Shift.

These Android phones do cost more than their other handsets, so make sure to use this link to Save 15% on your purchase. There are also rotating sales on these phones, so you can check back to see if they have the one you want on sale.

Touchscreen and QWERTY Phones

There is still a good selection of QWERTY phones and even a touchscreen phone that's not an Android phone. These phones are go well with the unlimited texting and messaging plans. Phones available include the LG Rumor 2 and LG Rumor Touch, the Samsung Seek, and Sanyo 2700.

Basic and Flip Phones

Basic Phone

the LG 102 is their entry-level phone. Even though its features are basic, it is still compatible with the GPS phone locator service.

Flip Phones

The Samsung M300 is a basic flip phone with VGA camera. It comes in red and silver, though they're not always in stock. Other flip phones available include the Sanyo Katana and Katana II.

Games and Ringtones

You can download as assortment of games and ringtones. They tell you how much it’s going to cost before you download it. Any download game or ringtone can be stored at their end in what’s called “The Vault”. So if your child is running out of storage on the phone, they can move some games or ringtones to “The Vault” and download them later without charge. As mentioned above, all ringtones are "content approved".

Dudeworld

Dudeworld is an attempt to market these downloads, ringtones, etc. to the kids. The "Dudes" are a set of half-baby blob-like cartoon characters. Each character has their favorites activities, food and ringtones. For example, one character's favorite "wallpaper" for his phone matches his skateboard.

This appeal to being cool by downloading the right ringtones, wallpapers etc., is not really in line with the rest of Kajeet's message about teaching children how to manage their phones and money responsibly.

However, Dudeworld isn't prominently featured on their website anymore, though the cute little munchkins that are on the site are, in fact, "Dudes".

Google Maps

Google Maps is one useful standard "app" available for your Kajeet phone.

For compatible Kajeet phones, you can use Google Maps to find out where you need to go and how to get there.

Save 15%

The phones are available online at Amazon or Kajeet. You can Save 15% by ordering directly from Kajeet here.

Recycling your old phones

Okay, so you've decided to switch your whole family over to Kajeet!

They have set up a website for recycling your old cell phone. You enter your information at: Kajeet Recycles and print out a mailing label as well as an IRS form documenting your donation. You get a confirmation email as well.

Summary

All in all, Kajeet seems to be a pretty well thought-out service and worth considering for your 8-12 year-old children.

Kajeet Android phones

Kajeet Consumer Reviews

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What Other Visitors Have Said

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I want a Kajeet phone and I want one now!  starstarstarstarstar
I want a phone but my mom said I had to do chores. That sucks. What should I do? I am 10 years old. Everyone has a phone except for me. I hope I get one ...

We Love Kajeet family plans  starstarstarstarstar
Kajeet has new family plans that have saved us money! You can get a parent plan for $30. With 1,000 minutes and 100 texts then we put two kids on $14.99 ...

Very happy with my 11 year olds Kajeet phone  starstarstarstarstar
We recently moved, so I let my 11 year old son get the Kajeet phone. It is a great phone. If you set up auto payments, the daily fee comes out to 5.25 ...

My 11 year old daughter loves this Kajeet phone, but I hate the access charges!  starstarstarstarstar
My 11 year old daughter loves this phone. Of course, what tween doesn't love their cell phone? :)

The phone has some nice features...I like that I ...

Kajeet - Some Good - Some Bad   starstarstarstarstar
I chose Kajeet for my 10 year old because she wanted to text her friends. I loved the pricing structure - surely a plan for any budget. We went with ...

Kajeet updates Privacy Policy  Not rated yet
Kajeet has updated their privacy policy for new customers who activated their service on or after March 8, 2011. The new policy (version 3) can be found ...

Terrible Kajeet customer service  Not rated yet
We were customers with Kajeet for almost 1 year when my daughter asked for an upgraded phone as a birthday gift. We spent $170 on a new phone but when ...

Thrilled with son's Kajeet Sanyo 2700  Not rated yet
I signed my son up for Kajeet about a month ago, and while it hasn't been very long I have to say I'm thrilled with my decision.

The inital phone ...

Kajeet is Wicked Cool  Not rated yet
Was looking for inexpensive plan for daughter who LOVES to text. Found Kajeet $14.99 ($15.74 total a month) 60 min talk/unlimted text. Customer service ...

Go with the 4.99 Kajeet plan  Not rated yet
Forget the "Pay as you go" Kajeet plan, the daily access charges are annoying.

If you sign up for the $4.99 plan, there are NO daily access charges!...

Wish we had gone with Kajeet sooner!  Not rated yet
The parental controls are amazing! The costs end up being about the same. We are not penalized when he get's grounded for the phone because his minutes ...

Happy 12 year old with Kajeet  Not rated yet
My twelve year old wanted a cell phone pretty bad, but his father and I were not sure that he should have one. We worried about being over minutes and ...